Over the past two weeks, we’ve gotten to see Murders at Karlov Manor cards in action. Unsurprisingly, the talk of the town has been the emergence of
Leyline of the Guildpact
Leyline of the Guildpact
If this card is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
Each nonland permanent you control is all colors.
Lands you control are every basic land type in addition to their other types.
in Modern. The combination of Leyline and
Scion of Draco
Scion of Draco
Domain — This spell costs {2} less to cast for each basic land type among lands you control.
Flying
Each creature you control has vigilance if it's white, hexproof if it's blue, lifelink if it's black, first strike if it's red, and trample if it's green.
has revolutionized both the Domain Zoo and
Crashing Footfalls
Crashing Footfalls
Suspend 4—{G} (Rather than cast this card from your hand, pay {G} and exile it with four time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, you may cast it without paying its mana cost.)
Create two 4/4 green Rhino creature tokens with trample.
archetypes, with both decks boasting extremely high win rates at the Regional Championship tournaments last weekend.
However, while all eyes are on the flashy rare, another powerful Enchantment that has been making a surge across multiple formats has largely flown under the radar. Whether it is being used as a combo card or a value engine, the Enchantment has immense upside. The card in question is none other than
Insidious Roots
Insidious Roots
Creature tokens you control have "{T}: Add one mana of any color."
Whenever one or more creature cards leave your graveyard, create a 0/1 green Plant creature token, then put a +1/+1 counter on each Plant you control.
. As we take a closer look at the different ways to maximize Insidious Roots, there’s no better place to start than one of the most powerful combo decks in Modern.
A New Avenue for Yawgmoth Combo
Kicking things off, we have a deck that has been among Modern’s best options for quite some time.
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Protection from Humans
Pay 1 life, Sacrifice another creature: Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature and draw a card.
{B}{B}, Discard a card: Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
combo was strong even before the printing of
Orcish Bowmasters
Orcish Bowmasters
Flash
When this creature enters and whenever an opponent draws a card except the first one they draw in each of their draw steps, this creature deals 1 damage to any target. Then amass Orcs 1.
and
Agatha’s Soul Cauldron
Agatha’s Soul Cauldron
You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to activate abilities of creatures you control.
Creatures you control with +1/+1 counters on them have all activated abilities of all creature cards exiled with Agatha's Soul Cauldron.
{T}: Exile target card from a graveyard. When a creature card is exiled this way, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
but has gotten significantly stronger since. Insidious Roots is yet another strong tool that players can add to their arsenal.
Insidious Roots is a solid card in conjunction with
Agatha’s Soul Cauldron
Agatha’s Soul Cauldron
You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to activate abilities of creatures you control.
Creatures you control with +1/+1 counters on them have all activated abilities of all creature cards exiled with Agatha's Soul Cauldron.
{T}: Exile target card from a graveyard. When a creature card is exiled this way, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
. Each turn, you can exile a Creature from your graveyard, netting you a plant token in the process. It also allows other tokens you create, such as those from
Grist, the Hunger Tide
Grist, the Hunger Tide
As long as Grist isn't on the battlefield, it's a 1/1 Insect creature in addition to its other types.
+1: Create a 1/1 black and green Insect creature token, then mill a card. If an Insect card was milled this way, put a loyalty counter on Grist and repeat this process.
−2: You may sacrifice a creature. When you do, destroy target creature or planeswalker.
−5: Each opponent loses life equal to the number of creature cards in your graveyard.
to tap for mana. Of course, where Insidious Roots really shines, though, is when combined with
Young Wolf
Young Wolf
Undying (When this creature dies, if it had no +1/+1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a +1/+1 counter on it.)
and
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Protection from Humans
Pay 1 life, Sacrifice another creature: Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature and draw a card.
{B}{B}, Discard a card: Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
.
Typically, the easiest way to execute a combo with Yawgmoth involves having access to two copies of
Young Wolf
Young Wolf
Undying (When this creature dies, if it had no +1/+1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a +1/+1 counter on it.)
and
Blood Artist
Blood Artist
Whenever this creature or another creature dies, target player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
. From there, you can execute the following steps:
- First, sacrifice a Young Wolf with Yawgmoth’s activated ability. Do not target any of your creatures with the -1/-1 counter. The Young Wolf will come back with a +1/+1 counter thanks to Undying. This will trigger Blood Artist, draining your opponent for one.
- Second, sacrifice your Young Wolf that does not have a counter, targeting the Young Wolf that does have a counter. Your counters will cancel out. Your other Young Wolf will come back with a +1/+1 counter thanks to Undying. This, once again, will trigger Blood Artist.
- You can repeat step two over and over, sacrificing the Young Wolf without a counter, targeting the one that does have a counter, thanks to -1/-1 counters and +1/+1 counters canceling one another out.
- There are other combo lines available in the deck, but, for the sake of briefness, we will not cover those here.
With access to Insidious Roots, though, you only need one copy of Young Wolf to go through a similar process:
- Sacrifice Young Wolf with Yawgmoth’s activated ability, once again targeting none of your Creatures with the -1/-1 counter. Your opponent will be drained for one from Blood Artist and the Young Wolf will return via Undying like normal. When Young Wolf returns to play, Insidious Roots will trigger, netting you an 0/1 Plant token with a +1/+1 counter.
- Sacrifice the Plant token to Yawgmoth, putting the -1/-1 counter on Young Wolf and draining your opponent for one again. The +1/+1 and -1/-1 counter on Young Wolf will cancel out.
- Repeat both steps over and over
The fact that Insidious Roots fills roles as both a combo enabler and a token generator makes it perfect for this archetype that’s reliant on going wide for Yawgmoth and
Chord of Calling
Chord of Calling
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature's color.)
Search your library for a creature card with mana value X or less, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
.
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Asmo Food Value Engine
Moving on to another Modern deck that can make good use of Insidious Roots, we have Asmo Food. While this deck isn’t trying to go infinite with Insidious Roots, the value that can be created is nothing to scoff at. The easiest way to reliably create plants every turn is to have a copy of
The Underworld Cookbook
The Underworld Cookbook
{T}, Discard a card: Create a Food token. (It's an artifact with "{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: You gain 3 life.")
{4}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
in play and Ovalchase Daredevil in your hand.
Each time you tap Cookbook, you can discard Daredevil to make a Food token. When the Food token enters the battlefield, Daredevil’s ability will trigger, allowing you to return it from your graveyard to your hand. In the process, you will trigger Insidious Roots. Even with a single copy of Cookbook and Insidious Roots, your Plant army can start to get out of control. Assemble multiple copies of either, though, and things can really pop off.
This deck has some other nice synergies that are worth mentioning, too. Much like how Agatha’s Soul Cauldron can remove Creatures from graveyard to trigger Insidious Roots,
Relic of Progenitus
Relic of Progenitus
{T}: Target player exiles a card from their graveyard.
{1}, Exile this artifact: Exile all graveyards. Draw a card.
can do the same thing. While there’s only one copy in the deck, you can always fetch it off of
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
when appropriate.
Bloodghast
Bloodghast
This creature can't block.
This creature has haste as long as an opponent has 10 or less life.
Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, you may return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
offers some solid value as well as a simple recursive threat.
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Beyond Modern
While Insidious Roots is making a name for itself in Modern, the card has some serious strength in other formats as well. In Standard, many players have been experimenting with it alongside Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler. In a deck filled with small Creatures, Tyvar does a great job at returning them to play and triggering Insidious Roots along the way. Additionally, the tokens you create with Insidious Roots will be able to tap for mana right away with Tyvar in play.
This mana can be used right away to cast Urborg Reposession or exile
Rubblebelt Maverick
Rubblebelt Maverick
When this creature enters, surveil 2. (Look at the top two cards of your library, then put any number of them into your graveyard and the rest on top of your library in any order.)
{G}, Exile this card from your graveyard: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. Activate only as a sorcery.
from the graveyard with its ability, letting you net more tokens from Insidious Roots and thus, more mana. Cards like
Undead Butler
Undead Butler
When this creature enters, mill three cards. (Put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard.)
When this creature dies, you may exile it. When you do, return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
and
Rona, Herald of Invasion
Rona, Herald of Invasion
Whenever you cast a legendary spell, untap Rona.
{T}: Draw a card, then discard a card.
{5}{B/P}: Transform Rona. Activate only as a sorcery. ({B/P} can be paid with either {B} or 2 life.)
help keep your graveyard full of Creatures, making Urborg Repossession even stronger.
Some players even experimented with
Colossal Skyturtle
Colossal Skyturtle
Flying, ward {2}
Channel — {2}{G}, Discard this card: Return target card from your graveyard to your hand.
Channel — {1}{U}, Discard this card: Return target creature to its owner's hand.
, which can allow you to generate infinite tokens if you’re lucky. With three copies of Insidious Roots and Tyvar in play as well as two copies of Skyturtle in hand, you start by Channeling one Skyturtle to return the other from your graveyard to your hand. This will net you three Plant tokens, which you can tap for mana immediately thanks to Tyvar. Now, with that mana, you can create a loop by Channeling one Skyturtle to return the other over and over, flooding the board with Plants!
The fact that Insidious Roots works well in multiples is certainly part of its appeal, but the card is still making a splash in Singleton formats like cEDH. The +1/+1 counters that Insidious Roots provides to your Plants work especially well with
Tayam, Luminous Enigma
Tayam, Luminous Enigma
Each other creature you control enters with an additional vigilance counter on it.
{3}, Remove three counters from among creatures you control: Mill three cards, then return a permanent card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
as the Commander of choice, helping enable its activation cost. Then, when you activate Tayam’s ability, if you return a Creature to play, you get a Plant with a +1/+1 counter on it for your troubles.
As you can see, there are a variety of ways to utilize this powerful Karlov Manor Enchantment. It’s rather trivial to create a big board with Insidious Roots in play, especially in multiples. There are a lot of ways to build around the card, which makes it quite appealing. As players continue to innovate, it’ll be cool to see if it breaks out in any other meaningful ways.
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